


Gou Versus Serena

by Negira1239



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: F/M, Gou versus Serena, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23275609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Negira1239/pseuds/Negira1239
Summary: Serena comes over to Kanto after becoming a semi-finalist in the Hoenn Pokemon Contest Competition. She meets up with Satoshi once again, but becomes surprised to only seeing one companion this time.Gou learns of the history between Serena and Satoshi, and figures out that he has to make a move now!It's Gou versus Serena!!!
Relationships: Gou/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Satoshi | Ash Ketchum/Serena
Comments: 10
Kudos: 140





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at a fan fic in an anime that I watched for over 20 years of my life. How have I not written something about this? Also, not sure if I should add in a second chapter or if I should just end it here as a one-shot. 
> 
> So umm... I got inspiration for this while watching the Sw/Sh anime. Like, Gou is such a well-orchestrated character. And the relationship between him and Satoshi is so cute sometimes. And I noticed the lack of fan fiction for the new anime, so I thought I add one in. Enjoy!
> 
> Negira1239

Gou knew something was up when Satoshi told him to meet at the airport near Sakuragi’s laboratory. Satoshi, from the months that he knew him, had never told him to suddenly meet him somewhere out of the blue. Something must have been up, Gou knew it.

He checked his phone and saw that he had been thirty minutes early. The airport itself was small, there were only six gates available for both returns and departures. In fact, this airport is mostly used for shipping; commercial airplanes often stop by to refuel before going out of the region. The boy sighed as he walked into the airport.

Gou looked around and found the bulletin board for any departing flights. He quickly took note that a flight would be leaving in thirty minutes, exactly the time that Satoshi had told him. But he wouldn’t have made him go somewhere without telling him first. He barely had his backpack, and it didn’t carry any camping equipment at all. He only had his team of six Pokemon, his backpack, and his phone on his person; maybe he should had packed.

He then noticed that a flight would be landing at the time Satoshi told him to meet at. He quickly starred at the screen and saw that the plane was coming from Kalos. Was someone he knew meeting him here? Who was it?

At that moment, his phone rang and alerted him. It was coming from Satoshi.

“Hey Satoshi,” Gou said, picking up the phone.

“Gou!” Satoshi yelled. “W-where are you?”

It seems like Satoshi is scrambling. “At the airport. I came early because you said to meet here at 10am.”

“That’s good!” Satoshi said, appreciating Gou’s attentiveness. “My friend said her flight came early! She’s at the airport right now! Can you get her?”

Her? “Who is this person Satoshi?” Gou asked.

“It’s-“ and then an explosion occurred. “Rocket Gang!”

“The Rocket Gang?” Gou asked in surprised.

“No- they’re here trying to steal my Pokemon!” Satoshi cleared up. “Got to go, bye!”

“Wait Sato-“ Gou heard the call drop and sighed. Welp. Time to go find a person he doesn’t have the name of.

Gou got up and quickly analyzed the board of arrivals. He scanned the flights and found a plane from Hoenn had just landed ten minutes prior. He sighed and started walking over to the baggage claim area.

From what he knew, this person is a girl, which statistically speaking lowers the changes by 50%. Good enough of a start, he guessed. He arrived at the baggage claim and immediately fell to the ground hitting another person.

“Ow,” Gou said, rubbing his head.

“Oh I’m so sorry!” a female voice replied.

Gou looked up and found a blonde, short haired girl wearing a sun hat in front of him. She wore mostly pink, but had several ribbons on her hat, dress, and boots. It seemed very stylish, blending the colors of pink, red, white, and black. “I’m sorry,” Gou apologized, “I bumped into you.”

“It’s my fault,” the girl said back. “I should have not walked out so fast from the phone booth.”

As Gou got up, he helped the girl up as well. He pulled her up and even grabbed the fallen purse on the ground.

“Thank you,” the girl bowed. “My name is Serena, and I’m from Kalos.”

“Kalos?” Gou asked. “I’m Gou, and did you just arrive from there?”

“Oh-“ Serena scoffed. “I just came from the Hoenn region. I completed in the Pokemon Contests as a Coordinator.”

“Coordinator?” Gou asked. “What’s that?”

“You never heard of a Pokemon Coordinator?” Serena asked, a little shocked to her knowledge.

“No,” Gou said. “I heard of a breeder and ranger. But never a coordinator.”

“Pokemon Coordinators are people that compete in Pokemon Contests and win ribbons,” Serena grabbed her ribbon case from her purse and showed him the numerous ribbons on there. “We collect ribbons by competing against other coordinators in contests where we show off our Pokemon’s coolness, cuteness, beauty, and so on. Then we compete in the finals like a tournament and win to become a Top Coordinator.”

“That sounds cool!” Gou said, seemingly excited. “Is that your dream?”

“It is,” Serena smiled. “And what’s your dream?”

“My dream is to catch mew,” Gou proclaimed. “But after I catch every single Pokemon!”

“That sounds ambitious,” Serena chuckled. “But it also sounds so cool! You remind me of someone you know.”

“Someone?” Gou asked.

“Someone told me a while back to always follow my dreams, and to make friends along the way,” Serena smiled. “He also taught me that Pokemon are our friends and that we should work together to accomplish anything.”

“Hey,” Gou smiled. “That sounds a lot like-“

“I’m sorry I’m late!” Satoshi said, bursting into the airport entrance. He sprinted in with Pikachu behind him, quickly running to both Gou and Serena. “Rocket Gang was trying to steal this Pokemon and- boom- and-“

“We get it,” both Gou and Serena said at the same time. They then looked at each other.

“No way,” they both said.

“You’re the girl!” Gou shouted, realizing Serena was the person Satoshi was referring to.

“And you’re that guy!” Serena shouted.

* * *

_Ten Minutes Prior_

Serena walked out of the airplane gate with a smile on her face. This was her first time visiting Kanto, and this would be her first vacation since losing in the Finals. She wanted to take a break before competing in the Sinnoh Pokemon Competition, so she decided to visit Kanto in the mean time. Kanto was closer to Sinnoh and Hoenn than Kalos, and she only had two weeks to really take a break. Her mother was very forward about her visiting Kanto, preaching about the Rhyhorns there being more muscular and bulky.

So she went. She called Satoshi a few days prior, and told him that she wanted to come to Kanto. And he said she should. Satoshi told him about his days as a researcher for Sakuragi, and that he’s also competing in the Galar Championships. But he’s in Kanto for now just trying to train more. He’s even mentioned traveling with a new friend- which was different from his normal adventures as he was only traveling with one other person than a group.

Serena’s eye twitched at the sound of that. Traveling with Satoshi back in Kalos was the best adventure that she had ever been upon. And during that time, she developed strong feelings for the boy and was able to admit to them before her flight. Hearing now that Satoshi only had one companion with him sparked an inner turmoil that she had not felt in a long time- jealousy. She kept smiling and continued the conversation, knowing that Satoshi was way too oblivious to notice her irritation.

Her flight landed forty minutes early, something that never seems to happen, so she quickly called Satoshi. To her surprise, Satoshi was in the forest training and was ten minutes away from the airport. Satoshi also got interrupted and didn’t tell her any details of the friend that’s going with him to Galar.

And now, she was standing face to face with Gou, the guy that Satoshi talked about. She somehow found him and struck up a conversation with him before Satoshi came. Fate is… quite stupid.

* * *

Gou grunted as he fell behind in the group. The three of them walked over to a hotel nearby Sakuragi Labs where Serena would be staying for the next two weeks. She and Satoshi were catching up on adventures that they both had after parting on their own. Satoshi showed that he had become the Alolan Champion, which he never found out about, and the team of Pokemon that he acquired before leaving them at Alola. Serena showed them the small group of friends she made, and the ribbons that she acquired since.

He had to admit that he was a bit jealous at the two. Sure, it was just two friends casually catching up with each other, but there was something else to it. And that something else was that same something that he wanted.

He was in love with Satoshi. Well, maybe not love, but he did like him. It made his heart flutter when Satoshi looked at him a certain way. Or when they come across something and they become really close to each other. But it wasn’t just physical attraction that was getting to Gou, there was an emotional aspect to it too. Satoshi was the only one to tell him to chase his dreams. Everyone in his life had scoffed or shorthanded Gou’s dream of catching Mew. It really made him isolate himself from the world and it made him have these weird social skills that normal kids shouldn’t have. Satoshi taught him that he shouldn’t just stick with catching Mew, but to catch other companions along the way. Satoshi taught him that it was normal for a kid like him to have such big dreams and aspirations, and it’s okay to pursue them. Satoshi was the only one who believed him, and helped him get his closest buddy since- Hibunny.

Well, Hibunny evolved and evolved again into Aceburn (Cinderace). But not the point.

The point is, Satoshi was being steered away from him. And not only was that making him sad, but it was also making him realize that Satoshi was really there for a lot of people. Satoshi had been through eight regions, several tournaments, and became champion. Who hasn’t been inspired by him at this point?

Satoshi was also the first person he really talked to that would actually try to help him become a better person. Sure, Professor Sakuragi and Koharu and his family were there, but it was because they weren’t there everyday that they didn’t really contribute much. Gou struggled to learn how to make friends because of his mindset to sticking with what you know and improving on it. And it would have worsen if it weren’t for Satoshi and Pikachu being there for him during his troubles with Rabbifoot (Raboot). He learned that the bunny Pokémon really wanted to become stronger, and to actually adhere to the fire type Pokémon like he truly is. And Gou was trying to teach him to stick with what he knows- that was terrible advice, and he gratefully admitted to it. Thankfully, he and Rabbifoot were able to amend and Rabbifoot was able to evolve into Aceburn (Cinderrace).

“Gou?”

Gou snapped back into reality and noticed that they were now at the front gates of the Sakuragi Lab. When did that happen?

“Sorry,” Gou apologized, “I got distracted by something.”

“Is something wrong Gou?” Satoshi asked, walking over towards his friend and peering over him. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Hmm,” Gou blushed. “I’m fine.”

“You look pale Gou,” Serena acknowledged. “Satoshi. Maybe we should just eat lunch first before going into the city.”

* * *

As soon as Gou drank a sip of water from his glass, he felt much better. He reclined in the wooden chair that he sat down on, and continued to drink. Maybe if he continued drinking he could drown himself before more embarrassment ensues.

“I’m gonna go find Barrier’d,” Satoshi said, directing Serena to the nearby refrigerator. “I think Barrier’d made lunch for us. Go ahead and take anything from the fridge.”

As Satoshi left, Serena picked up a soda pop and sat beside Gou. She set her purse down on the chair next to her and brought out her smart phone.

“Hey Gou,” Serena suggested. “Let’s exchange numbers.”

Gou brought his phone out from his pocket and immediately inputed Serena’s contact info. He noticed that she had a Rotom Phone as well, and inputed his own contact information on her phone.

“Say, Gou,” Serena brought up. “Back there… were you… jealous?”

Gou’s face blew up in red upon hearing that. “Wait wait wait!” Gou pushed back. “No umm…”

“You like Satoshi,” Serena slowly put her face closer to Gou’s receding one. “Don’t you?”

“N-Not at all!” Gou said, denying her accusation. “We’re just friends and umm-“

“I know you like him,” Serena said, “Because I said have said the exact same thing!”

“Wait-“ Gou said, something snapping into his head. “You like him too!”

“That’s…” Serena blushed now. “That’s not relevant.”

“Yes it is!” Gou stood up, now leaning towards Serena. “You like him too!”

“Like who?” Satoshi said, now walking into the kitchen with Barrier’d.

“N-Nothing!” Both Gou and Serena immediately covered up their conversation and sat back down their seats. They quickly peered at each other before going on their phones.

_Gou: Did you come to Kanto just to see Satoshi?_

_Serena: Hey! I’m on a vacation from competing in Pokemon Competitions._

_Gou: So that’s a yes?_

“Who are you texting Gou?” Satoshi said as he sat down next to him.

“N-No one in particular,” Gou lied. “I was ummm… looking up some news.”

“News?” Satoshi asked. “What happened?”

“Ummm,” Gou looked at his phone and then paused. He had to make something up quick to make it not seem like he was texting Serena. Thankfully, he read the news this morning before meeting with them. “There’s a gathering of Butterfree in the Viridian Forest.”

“Butterfree?” Satoshi asked, his voice a little low. He stared into space for a few seconds before jumping out of his seat, scaring Gou, Pikachu, and Serena. “Let’s go!”

“Let’s eat lunch first!” Gou quickly responded.

* * *

The three of them got off the bus at Viridian City’s Pokemon Center. They all thanked the bus driver before the bus left.

Gou and Serena were in the midst of their text war when Ash interrupted them about some wild Butterfree flying outside the bus. The two others simply gave a glance outside as they continued their conversation.

Gou: What makes you think you can get Satoshi to kiss you first?

In their conversation of sending slander and hatred towards each other, Serena brought up the fact that she gave Satoshi a kiss before she flew off to Hoenn. That made Gou blush really hard, which made Satoshi notice and ask what was up. Gou quickly made up another lie about he’s nervous to see that many Butterfree in one location before going back to his phone. Satoshi continued to stare blankly outside the window as Gou texted back that it would be easy for him to kiss Satoshi. A few seconds later, a competition ensues.

_Serena: I knew him longer and I have my ways. Call it women’s intuition._

_Gou: that only works for straight people! Satoshi clearly isn’t straight!_

_Serena: What makes you think Satoshi isn’t just straight in the first place?_

_Gou: Satoshi focuses more on Pokemon than himself. Most likely, he probably doesn’t know what being straight is._

_Serena. Honestly, true. But still, what makes you think satoshi will kiss you first?_

_Gou: I have my methods_

Gou quickly turned to Satoshi. “Hey, Satoshi?”

Satoshi turned from the window and towards Gou. “Yeah?”

“Have you ever kissed someone before?” Gou asked, stuttering just a little bit.

“Ehh?” Satoshi said in surprise. “Wh-where did that come from?”

“I was reading about the Butterfree,” Gou said, somewhat lying. “They do this ritual with their wings and antennae. And I was just curious.”

“Well…” Satoshi thought about it a little bit. “I never kissed someone… But I got kissed before.”

“You did?” Gou exclaimed not to loudly in surprise. He wasn’t as surprised as he was told by Serena, but he was more surprised by how fast Satoshi admitted to it.

“Yeah,” Satoshi blushed. “My first kiss… came from a Latias.”

“WAIT WHAT!” both Gou and Serena said in surprise.

Satoshi explained to them the events that ensued that made it happen. By the time he finished (not telling the story but more or less using onomatopoeias to describe what happened), they were at Viridian City.

Gou and Serena continued their texting after that.

_Gou: HAHA! Satoshi got kissed by a Latias before you!_

_Serena: How was I supposed to know Satoshi met Latias? And also, I can say the same about you._

_Serena: A pokemon had better moves than you!_

_Gou: Hey!_

“So where are we going?” Satoshi asked the group.

“Oh umm,” Gou quickly switched tabs on his phone and loaded the web page to the Butterfree article he saw earlier. “We head north into Viridian forest and we head up the mountain.”

* * *

Gou lead the group to the spot while texting Serena. As they followed the path towards the top of the mountain side, Gou kept his eyes strictly on his smartphone. His fingers texted faster than normal, instantly replying to Serena and also monitoring the map on his phone.

“Say,” Satoshi said, trying to get Gou’s attention. “Is there something interesting on your phone? You’ve been looking at that the whole day.”

“Hmm?” Gou said, finally looking up from his phone. “Oh umm-I’m just making sure we’re not lost.”

_Serena: almost got caught huh?_

_Gou: shut up._

“Ah,” Satoshi said a little disheartened. “I see.”

The three of them continued the path upwards. They slowly escalated the mountain, taking up almost an hour of walking. An hour of walking passed before Satoshi saw something from the side of his eye.

“Hey,” Satoshi pointed forward. “What’s that?”

There was a small tree in the middle of the road. It had three green orbs of leaves attached onto one branch on each side.

“Is that a Sudowoodo?” Gou asked, walking closer to examine with his phone.

“A Sudowoodo?” Serena asked, unsure what that Pokemon is.

“I think it is-“

**BOOM**

The tree exploded in their path and quickly covered the area in smoke.

“What’s going on?” Satoshi screamed out loud as he held Pikachu close.

Suddenly, four figures jumped from the shadows.

> “If you ask us about ‘this’ or ‘that,’”
> 
> “We’ll answer out of sympathy for the world!”
> 
> “To protect the world from devastation!”
> 
> “To preserve world peace!”
> 
> “Championing the evils of truth and love!”
> 
> “We’re the lovely, charming, villains!”
> 
> “Musashi!”
> 
> “Kojiro!”
> 
> “The Team Rocket Duo soars through the galaxy!”
> 
> “Like a white hole, a white tomorrow awaits us!”
> 
> “Just kidding!” Meowth interrupted, “Meow!”
> 
> “SONANTSU!” Woobuffet interrupted.

“Team Rocket!” Satoshi shouted in anger. “What are you doing here!”

“We’re here to steal your Pikachu,” Jessie said, “of course.

“And what better way to do it by mecha?” Meowth said as he manned the giant robot behind Jessie and James.

“And also,” James raised his hand into the sky. “Pelliper Gotcha!”

A Pelliper flew overhead and dropped the gotcha machine on the ground. Team Rocket placed Meowth’s coin on there and rolled two Pokémon.

“Go!” Jessie and James said, bringing out a Magmar and an Electabuzz.

“Pikachu I choose you!” Satoshi said, throwing his Pikachu in.

“Go Sylveon!” Serena said, calling out her Pokémon.

“Use Lava Plume!” Jessie commanded the Magmar.

“Electabuzz use protect!” James commanded.

“Pikachu counter with thunder bolt!” Satoshi commanded.

“Sylveon use Mystical Fire!” Serena commanded.

Both Pokémon sent their attacks and countered the Lava Plume.

“Electabuzz use thunder on Sylveon!” James commanded.

“Magmar use flame thrower!”

“Pikachu use quick attack and dodge!”

“Sylveon use Moonblast!”

Thunder and Moonblast collided each other as Pikachu was able to slip past the flame thrower and attack Magmar.

“Use electro web!”

“Use Mystical Fire!”

Pikachu was able to trap the Magmar while Sylveon sent flames to Electabuzz!

“Wait wait wait!” Jessie said, halting the battle. “It says on here for a power up switch the poke ball with your partner.”

“Let’s do that,” James said as he switched his Electabuzz poke ball with the Magmar one. And suddenly, both Magnar and Electabuzz started evolving.

“I forgot!” Gou said to both trainers. “Magmar and Electabuzz evolve into Magmortar and Electivire by trading!”

“Pikachu stay back!” Satoshi commanded.

Both Magmortar and Electivire appeared in their evolved forms, each looking like a buffed version their own. Both James and Jessie were cheering as the evolution glow just finished up.

“Magmortar,” James now commanded. “Use Flamethrower!”

“Electivire,” Jessie commanded. “Use Thunderbolt!”

“Pikachu use quick attack to dodge!”

“Sylveon use Moonblast!

Moonblast was able to only hold off the thunderbolt. Flamethrower, which Pikachu dodger, managed to hit Sylveon.

“Sylveon no!” Serena cried.

“Pikachu use iron tail!”

“Magmortar use fire punch!”

The two collided with their attacks but Magmortar was the more powerful.

“Electivire use thunder on Sylveon!” Jessie commanded.

“Sylveon counter with Shadow Ball!”

“Pikachu use electroweb on Magmortar!”

Pikachu was able to bind the opponent as Mystical Fire countered Thunder.

“Use Moonblast!”

Immediately, Electivire was hit with the fairy move.

“Use Lava Plume to escape!”

“Use thunder bolt now!” Satoshi commanded.

“Electivire use thunder punch on Pikachu!” Jessie commanded.

“Sylveon use Mystical Fire once again!”

This time, thunderbolt struck Magmortar and Mystical Fire struck Electivire.

This caused a massive explosion, sending everyone back a few feet. Gou braced himself and Satoshi was able to jump towards Serena to get her down. Team Rocket was also blown back by the force. So much so that both Jessie and James held onto the Mecha.

Serena was able to call her tired Sylveon back before it collapsed.

“Pikachu use thunderbolt on Team Rocket!” Satoshi said as he helped Serena get up.

As Pikachu sent the bolt of lightning, Sonantsu jumped in the way and used Mirror Coat.

The explosion sent back to the kids was so much that Gou and Serena were sent flying off the mountain.

* * *

“Owww,” Serena sighed as she stood up in the midst of the rubble. “Where am I?”

“Serena?” Gou coughed as he stood up with his backpack still on. “Satoshi?”

“Satoshi?” Serena called out, expecting to hear back his voice. But nothing came.

The two of them were at the bottom of the mountain side. They landed next to the water bank of a river, scaring all the nearby Pokémon away.

“We probably from up there,” Gou said, pointing up towards the smoke of the Team Rocket Mecha. “Should we call for help?”

“I can’t,” Serena said, pulling out her phone. “I don’t have signal.”

“Really?” Gou pulled out his phone. “Dang it! No signal!”

“Should we make our way around the mountain?” Serena suggested.

“We should,” Gou agreed. “But I have a question Serena.”

“What is it?” Serena asked.

“Why did Satoshi jump for you and not for me?” Gou said in a saddened tone.

Serena was about to brag that Satoshi had chosen him. That his heart was truly aimed for her, and that Zhou should stop trying.

But that seemed so harsh.

“Gou...” Serena sighed as Gou turned towards the direction of the city.

“Let’s go towards the city and retrace our steps,” Gou said in his saddened tone.

* * *

“Gou!” Satoshi screamed down the mountain side. “Serena!”

The two companions fell down the mountain side from the impact of the explosion. Team Rocket’s Mecha was completely destroyed and left no remains but the blackened sand and ashes.

Satoshi brought out a Pokeball and brought out his Dragonite.

“Dragonite!” Satoshi called. “Find Gou and Serena! Please!”

The orange dragon nodded and flew down the mountain side.

“Gengar!” He called. “Come out!”

Gengar quickly came out of his poke ball. “Stick with me while we find Pikachu!”

Satoshi and Gengar continued up the mountainside to pursue Team Rocket. Dragonite flew down and is now slowly searching for Gou and Serena.

* * *

“Hey Gou...” Serena said, trying to enlighten the mood coming from Gou. “I’m sorry...”

“I feel like an idiot,” Gou sighed. “I knew Satoshi would never go for me.”

“Don’t say that!” Serena shouted loudly. “Stop degrading yourself!”

“So?” Gou stopped walking and turned towards Serena. “You’re just saying that because you’re happy that you can have Satoshi.”

“Stop saying that!” Serena shouted. “Because it’s not true!”

“Eh?”

“Gou...” Serena started to tear. “You’re thinking about this all wrong. Satoshi likes you more than me.”

“Wait wait wait-“ Gou said, turning his body more towards Serena. “What makes you think that?”

“Satoshi always asked you stuff when you’re on your phone!” Serena admitted. “He never asked me!”

“Come again?”

“Satoshi pays way more attention to you than me,” Serena admitted. “He has this look on his eyes when he looks at you.”

“So what you’re saying is...” Gou took a deep breath. “I won?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Wait just a minute!”

“Ha ha!”

“What happened to you being sad just a moment ago?” Serena shouted in anger.

“You just admitted that you la-aww-st!” Gou said, teasing the girl in front of him.

“Ergggg!” Serena gritted in anger. “That does it! Let’s have a Pokémon battle to see who gets Satoshi!”

Gou took out a poke ball. “You’re on sister!”

“Go!” Serena quickly threw out her Pokémon. “Delphox!”

“Go Cinderrace!” Gou said as he quickly threw his Pokémon.

The two fire Pokémon came out of their respective balls and looked at each other. They both blinked at each other, slowing taking in the other’s physique.

“Cinderrace!” Gou commanded. “We’re going to sweep the floor against Serena!”

Cinderrace turned in confusion towards his trainer.

“Bring it Gou!” Serena back talked. “We’re taking you down! Right Delphox?”

Delphox also turned her head towards her trainer in confusion.

“Cinderrace use Quick Attack!” Gou commanded.

Cinderrace hesitated before sprinting over in lightning speed towards the opponent.

“Delphox,” Serena barked. “Use Psychic!”

Delphox closed her eyes in fear as she quickly initiated psychic on the field. Cinderrace was stopped in his tracks and now flying in the air.

“Use double kick to escape!” Gou shouted. “Hurry!”

Conference kicked the ground once to dash forward and kicked again to free himself from psychic.

“Use Pyro Ball!” Gou commanded.

“Use Mystical Fire!” Serena shouted.

Cinderrace kicked a small rock from the ground and kicked it higher until a fire ball started to accumulate. Delphox drew with her broom stick a flaming circle and focused her energy. The two Pokémon released their attacks simultaneously, a fire ball flew across the battlefield and intercepted a pillar of flames.

Serena held her hat to make sure it didn’t fly off. “Delphox use Shadow Ball!”

Delphox used its broomstick and shot a shadow ball of energy at the opponent.

“Deflect it with Blaze Kick!” Gou commanded.

Cinderrace’s leg blazed up with fire as it jumped up into the air. It twisted it’s torso clockwise so that the left leg can kick the shadow ball with full force. The ball bounced back forward and hit the dirt in front of Cinderrace, causing dust and sand to fly into the air.

“Quick attack!”

“Delphox use flame thrower on the whole area!”

Cinderrace quickly snuck through the dust cloud and charged forward to attack. As it charged forward, it quickly jumped in the air as Delphox’s flamethrower incinerated the whole ground below it.

Gou raised his arms in protest of the heat of the battle field and shouted. “Blaze kick!”

“Flamethrower!” Serena commanded back.

Cinderrace, whilst in mid air, wrapped both legs with flames as flamethrower continued to ignite below it. Delphox continued the streams of flames with its broom stick, slowly panning upward to hit Cinderrace. The while rabbit Pokémon used its downward momentum to counter the incoming flames, its blazing feet intercepting the incoming fire.

“Goo!” Both trainers shouted, enticing their Pokémon to try harder to reach their target. Delphox continued to blast flames to distance itself on Cinderrace while the white rabbit was trying to close it.

The two Pokémon looked at each other with despair as they both started to weaken down from the battling. They nodded towards each other before Delphox started to send weaker flames in flame thrower.

“Delphox!” Serena cried, seeing the weaken flame thrower coming out of the stick.

“This is our chance!” Gou said, completely enraptured of the event. “Pyro ball!”

Cinderrace panted heavily as it stood in pace. Blocking flame thrower with blaze kick had tired the poor rabbit out.

“What’s wrong?” Gou shouted, sounding more authoritative than empathetic.

“Delphox use shadow ball!”

Delphox formed a shadow ball and launched it forward. The fox immediately took a knee, something that Serena has never seen before.

“Hurry use Pyro Ball!”

Cinderrace kicked a small rock in the air before sending one kick towards it. It ignited in flames and countered the shadow ball. It resulted in a small explosion.

“Mystical Fire!”

“Pyro Ball once more!”

The two Pokémon launched their attacks towards each other, a pillar of flames and a fire ball coming towards each other in somewhat high speeds. The trainers were both so into the moment that they didn’t even notice a certain yellow Pokémon come into the battle field.

Dragonnite landed in the middle of the two attacks and extended both arms to each direction. Pyro ball hit the Dragonnite’s left arm, but it practically did nothing as Dragonnite shrugged it off. Mystical Fire did nothing as well, as the dragon Pokémon used Dragon Pulse against it. It cancel out the attack and removed all the smoke on the field.

“That’s enough!” A familiar voice shouted. Both trainers looked in the direction that the voice came from and were surprised to see Satoshi, his Gengar, and his Pikachu all together.

“Satoshi!” The two trainers called. “You’re okay!”

Both Cinderrace and Delphox took this break in the battle to collapse on the ground, both over heating and both exhausted from fatigue.

“Cinderrace!” Gou ran over to his partner Pokémon and carefully lifted it up.

“Delphox!” Serena gasped and immediately sat down next to the Pokémon. “Are you okay?”

The two Pokémon gave sighs as the trainers brought out their respective Pokeballs. They smiled as they were absorbed back.

“Satoshi,” Gou called. “I’m glad you’re okay-“

“Let’s go home,” Satoshi gritted his teeth and walked past both Gou and Serena. “There’s a Pokémon Center for your Pokémon.”

The two trainers stared in utter disbelief as Satoshi walked past them, Pikachu on shoulder. Gengar and Dragonnite whizzed past them, closely following their trainer. They then looked at each other, and realized that they messed up.

* * *

“You’re Cinderrace and Delphox are all ready to go,” Nurse Joy said as both fire type Pokémon stood behind her. “They were suffering from over exhaustion and over heating. Please give them plenty of rest!”

“Thank you Nurse Joy,” Gou and Serena said as they hugged their respective Pokémon.

“You’re welcome,” Nurse Joy have them a smile. “Have a nice day!”

Satoshi sat in a chair in the lobby with Pikachu next to him. He watched as Gou and Serena picked up and sent away their Pokémon in Poké balls before coming back to him.

“Satoshi,” Serena was the first to day as they walked back to him. “We’re really sorry about what happened.”

“We were both so focused on battling each other that we forgot about you and our Pokémon,” Gou admitted. “We’re sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me,” Satoshi said, standing up and grabbing his Pikachu. The yellow mouse Pokémon quickly got on his shoulder without making a sound. “Apologize to your Pokémon. They’re the ones that were hurt the most.”

The two trainers sighed as they realized how right Satoshi was. They stood in silence as they watched Satoshi walk towards the exit. His Pikachu offered a frown as a condolence before it disappeared behind the double entrance doors.

“We messed up,” Gou said first. “Big time.”

“We did,” Serena sighed. “We did nothing to help Satoshi. We were so wrapped up in our own battle that Satoshi saved himself and he saved us.”

“Uggg,” Gou exasperated. “I hate this feeling of guilt. Should we follow him?”

“Let’s let Satoshi blow off some steam,” Serena sighed. “It’s already turning dark. We’ll just stay the night here.”

Gou sighed as he followed Serena to the hotel rooms awaited for them.

* * *

“I’m sorry Cinderrace,” Gou bowed as he apologized to the white rabbit pokemon.

“I’m sorry Delphox,” Serena bowed, standing next to Gou and expressing that same apology. “I took advantage of you today. It was wrong.”

“I did the same,” Gou admitted. “And I mistreated youR feelings.”

“I’m sorry,” they both said simultaneously.

The rabbit and fox Pokémon looked at each other before enveloping their trainers in hugs.

“And I’m sorry to you Gou.”

Gou looked over to Serena, who was enveloped in a full hug by Delphox. “I also took advantage of you today. Let’s be friends not rivals.”

“Agreed,” Gou said, shaking her hand. “I’m sorry too.”

“So are you going to share a room with Satoshi?” Serena asked.

“Satoshi didn’t even speak to me when I entered,” Gou sighed. “Can I stay here tonight?”

“Sure,” Serena smiled. “I call the top though.”

“Damn it!” Gou exclaimed in anger.

Meanwhile, Satoshi gave a smile as he stood by the entrance. He silently nodded to Pikachu before walking back to his room.

* * *

Gou woke up that morning somewhat sweaty. He didn’t know if it was Serena that turned the heat up, but it felt a bit hot inside. Maybe it was the fact that they have two fully evolved fire Pokémon inside the room.

He got up and grabbed a change of clothes before heading into the shower. Serena was still silently asleep so he made sure to silently walk over. He glimpsed over to the other side, and found both Cinderrace and Delphox sleeping next to each other. How cute.

And then he noticed the white object in between them.

And Gou screamed loudly.

“What happened?” Serena shouted, screaming in surprise from Gou’s sudden’s cry.

She looked over the side to a completely shocked Gou. Serena slowly turned her head to the side and noticed the two fire Pokémon waking up next to each other.

She screamed as soon as she saw the Pokémon egg in between them.


	2. Regielectric? (Name in progress)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brandon, Battle Frontier Brain of the Battle Pyramid, invited Satoshi and his friends to the Crowned Tundra in Galar to explore the newly discovered Regi Ruins. Of course, they all go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this really blew off and I didn't realize it would blow up. Welp. Here's a second part, and a third part is in the works. Also, I forgot that Serena met Satoshi as a kid, so umm... ignore that part from the previous chapter. 
> 
> I also wanted to say that I'm sticking to English Pokemon names and some people I might use their English names over their Japanese names. Sorry yall. I'm not a weeb enough.
> 
> Negira1239

“What were you two thinking?!?!” Gou shouted at the two fire Pokémon. “You can’t just fool around like this and not realize that there are consequences for your actions!”

Delphox and Cinderrace both sighed as they sat against the wall, taking a scolding from their trainers.

“You two are jeopardizing not only your lives, but this Pokémon’s life too,” Serena said as she alluded to the Pokémon egg. “You do realize that we can’t stay in Kanto forever.”

The two fire Pokémon snuggled closer with their egg in the middle of them.

“What do we tell Satoshi?” Serena asked Gou. “We can’t tell him that Cinderrace and Delphox made an egg.”

“Knowing him, he doesn’t even know where eggs come from,” Gou replied back. “We’ll just say that we found it. That way, it doesn’t make him think of-“

* _knock knock knock_ * “Hey!” Satoshi’s voice boomed from behind the door. “Professor Sakuragi called you but you didn’t pick up!”

“He did?!?!” Gou ran over to his phone and realized that he had 3 missed calls. Rotom must have silenced the noise from when he and Serena were yelling at their Pokémon. “Oh no-“

“Get ready!” Satoshi called them. “We’re headed to Galar!”

“Galar?!?!” The two trainers and two fire Pokémon yelped in surprise.

* * *

“I can’t believe you know Brandon,” Gou started the conversation, “the brain of the battle frontier of Hoenn, and you never bothered to tell me?”

Professor Sakuragi had called the three of them to let them know that Brandon, the Frontier Brain of the Battle Pyramid, had tried to look for Satoshi. Sakuragi told him that he would forward his information, and tried to contact them. Once Sakuragi got a hold of Satoshi, he gave him Brandon’s number and told him that Brandon wanted them all in Galar.

“You didn’t tell me either!” Serena angrily pouted.

Satoshi called Brandon after that, and Brandon filled him in. In Galar, they recently discovered a new ruins and called Brandon to investigate. Brandon requested Satoshi’s help, remembering that he was one of few trainers who were able to beat his Regi’s.

“Sorry guys,” Satoshi sighed. “I also beat him back when he had an Articuno on his team.”

The three were on their way to Viridian City, where they will take the next bus to go back to Sakuragi’s lab to drop off the egg, then go to theairport and fly over to Galar’s Crowned Tundra.

“You- he had an Articuno?!?!” Gou shrieked at the story. “How- that bird is a legendary Pokémon there’s no way he-“

“Wait wait wait,” Serena said, making Gou stop. “It says here that Brandon has Registeel, Regirock, and Regiice! You didn’t tell us that either?!?!”

“He also has a Regigigas,” Satoshi added. “And you two didn’t let me tell you before you both yelled at me.”

Serena sighed as she gripped the egg incubator in her arms. Nurse Joy back at the Pokémon center was nice enough to give them an incubator for the egg. She did give a strange look to both Gou and Serena, but quickly sent a wink to the both of them. Serena shuttered in goosebumps when Nurse Joy asked her if they ever taken a Pokémon health class.

The new plan for them was to actually go back to Vermillion City. They were going to drop the egg off with Koharu, and then go to that airport for an earlier flight.

Gou was actually surprised to see that Satoshi wasn’t mad at the both of them anymore. Most likely, Satoshi might have forgotten about it, but it still brought fear to his heart that Satoshi might call him out for it.

And strangely enough, Gou wants him to call him out? Not necessarily call him out, but Satoshi always made it a call to let Gou know what he’s doing wrong. And Gou is very appreciative of that. He got rid of the feud with Cinderrace back when he evolved into a Rabbifoot (Raboot). He got rid of the feud with Darmanatan when it taunted Rabbifoot when it claimed it couldn’t use a proper fire move.

Gou was very appreciative for all that Satoshi had done for him. He could never thank him enough, and that’s probably why Gou set his heart for him.

_Hey Serena,_ Gou typed out. _Let’s call it a truce._

Serena checked her phone and saw the message. Struggling to hold the egg container whilst grabbing her phone out, she used her arms to hold the egg in place. _Agreed._ It was childish what the two of them were doing, and if it continued, Satoshi would pick neither of them.

“Hey Gou,” Serena called from her seat. “I’m sorry about yesterday.”

Gou looked up from his phone over to where she was sitting on the bus. “I’m sorry too. I hope we can become better friends from this.”

Satoshi and Pikachu gave each other a smile as the bus came closer to Vermillion City. Neither of them could see the smiles on Gou and Serena’s face as they started to laugh together.

* * *

“Hey Gou! Hey Serena! Hey- where did you get that egg?” Koharu asked with skeptism as the three of them entered the lab.

“Welcome back,” Professor Sakuragi said as he entered the main foyer. “How was your journey?”

“We didn’t get to see the Butterfree,” Gou sadly reported. “But we got an egg.”

“Did you steal that egg?” Koharu asked as she inspected it though the glass of the egg incubator.

“It’s a long story,” Serena said, giving her and eye roll and mouthing “I’ll text you later.”

Serena held the egg inside it’s container the entire adventure over. For some reason, she was given the egg, and left with it the whole time. Gou didn’t even offer to hold it, but judging his text message and how he wants to call a truce, maybe it was better that he wasn’t holding the egg. He could be too distracted about something else and possibly risk the egg.

“Sorry to hear that,” Professor Sakuragi helped Serena hold the egg canister as she started to take her shoes off. “We’ll watch over the egg as you three go to Galar.”

“Why are we going to Galar again?” Serena asked. “Satoshi told us about Brandon meeting us at the Crowned Tundra.”

“So you haven’t heard?” Professor Sakuragi started to lead the group towards the lab. “Scientists recently founded a ruins split in half for two Pokémon.”

The projector started to show the image of the ruins. “These two ruins coexist with each other, and they show artifacts and hieroglyphics of two special pokemon. These Pokémon, after some digging and researching, might be a Regi of dark and light.”

“A dark and light Regi?” Gou asked. “Does that mean it could be a Regidark and a Regilight? But what does light mean?”

Serena was right. Once Gou and Satoshi hear of a new Pokémon, the two immediately scramble to either catch or battle it (respectively).

The image of the two Pokémon were shown on screen. “It might be a Regielectric,” Professor Sakuragi suggested. “Or Regidenki. Something like that. They’re confirming it in Fall 2020.”

“So we’re going with Brandon for these two Regi’s?” Serena asked once more.

“Satoshi and Gou are there to help out as much as they can,” Professor Sakuragi explained. “But you can help out too if you’d like.”

“Yes please,” Serena bowed. “My only request is that you watch over the egg for us.”

“Koharu?” Sakuragi asked. “Would you like to watch over the egg?”

“Seriously?” Koharu said as she stepped closer to observe the egg with red spots on it. “Sure.” Her Yamper started to bark at the egg as she picked up the canister.

“You three might need some winter gear,” Sakuragi reminded them. “The Crowned Tundra does go down to 25 degrees Fahrenheit the hottest.”

“Seriously?!?!” Both Gou and Serena cried in fear.

* * *

The plane ride to Galar wasn’t that bad. The three of them were able to get on a commercial plane, with the three of them sitting collectively in one spot. Gou had the window, Serena had the aisle, and Satoshi had the aisle across from their side.

Satoshi fell asleep with Pikachu on his lap once again. They fell asleep every time they traveled to a region that wasn’t Johto, and they continued the pattern here too. But Gou was glad about it, because he had time to think about what to do. And so did Serena.

The day that Professor Sakuragi had them split to teams for Pokémon Orientation, Gou realized that he and Satoshi had the same thinking mechanisms but have different methods of doing stuff. Satoshi battles to understand Pokémon while Gou catches them.

Serena thought out this too- she recently figured out that she understands Pokémon through contests and through exhibition. It rabbled both of their heads to realize that they were falling for the same guy and that that guy would battle anyone at any time. And for some reason, they fell for that?

They fell for a reckless, childish, and innocent 11ish year-old that somehow met all the currently known legendary and mythical Pokémon, met all the gym leaders and champions (except Galar), became a Champion, and somehow kissed a Latias. And it continued to hurt their hearts every time they think about it, because it simply pains them to see that the feelings won’t be returned to them.

“Hey Serena,” Gou said, starting the conversation. “What made you realize that you really liked Satoshi apart from other people?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Serena sighed. “And I know we’ll have the same answer.”

“Is it the way that he cares about Pokémon?” Gou asked.

“It’s also the way that he cares about us,” Serena added. “And that he would risk himself for anybody.”

“Stupid Satoshi,” Gou looked out the window to avoid looking towards Satoshi sitting at the other aisle seat. “Do you have any leads on whether or not he likes you or me more?”

“Honestly,” Serena said and looked over towards the sleeping boy and his sleeping Pikachu. “I know he likes me because I trying to follow my dreams. And I know he likes you too for that as well. But the thing is,” Serena sighed. “I don’t know if I should even try anymore.”

“Is because he doesn’t seem to care?” Gou stated more as a statement than a question. “He’s not picking up on any hints.”

“Satoshi is so oblivious that he still thinks I’m a good friend after kissing him on the lips,” Serena admitted. “I ran back up the escalator to kiss him too.”

“Team Rocket tried to hold a Ditto hostage one day,” Gou reminisced the story. “They said, ‘not even a thunderbolt can stop us,’ and Satoshi was confused. Team Rocket even yelled at him to use thunderbolt at them, and Satoshi still didn’t get it until he told Pikachu to use it.”

Serena cracked a laugh hearing that. It was such a Satoshi thing to do. “Yup. That sounds just like him.”

“And umm,” Gou asked nervously. “Are we... still on truce?”

“I was gonna ask about that,” Serena softened her voice a bit. She was a bit nervous talking about this as well. “Because personally, Satoshi’s really cute when he acts stupid.”

“Stupid as in unaware of knowledge stupid?” Gou asked. “Or stupid ad in doing dumb stuff?”

“The dumb stuff one definitely,” Serena chuckled. “I have a picture of him in a princess gown!”

“Show me!” Gou’s popped opened as Serena unlocked her phone. “I’ll show you a picture of Satoshi getting kicked by Cinderrace!”

And the two kids started sharing their pictures. They laughed hard when they saw Satoshi and Pikachu inside a princess gown, and laughed harder when they watched the video with Cinderrace being angry at Satoshi and kicking him into the air. They shared more photos from their own adventures with Satoshi, and even shared memories as well.

And they even talked about how they both met Satoshi. Serena told him how she met Satoshi as a child, but remembered him when he tried to save a Mega Garchomp on Prism Tower. Gou talked about the legendary Lugia encounter and how they both rode its back and dove into deep waters.

And before they knew it, they had ten minutes to landing.

* * *

The train from Hammerlocke to the Crowned Tundra was... unexpected to say the least.

Cinderrace and Delphox were moping around the booth as they were informed the egg was left behind in Kanto. Satoshi and Pikachu sat in confusion as they weren’t aware of the whole egg thing. They simply joined along and laughed as Cinderrace started to kick Gou’s Rotom phone around like a ball.

“Stop that!” Gou frantically cried. “You’re hurting Rotom!”

Delphox was being groomed by Serena, but jointly laughed at the clowning around.

When the train stopped at the next station, Satoshi left the booth and walked to the nearest telephone. He quickly made a call to Professor Kakui, and asked him a quick favor. The train was stopped there for fifteen minutes due to delays of the tracks freezing over, so Satoshi thought preemptively and decided to ask if he could bring a certain Pokémon.

When Satoshi returned to the booth, he carried a new member to his team.

“Come on out!” He called, throwing the Pokeball into the air. The area flashed and a new tall fire Pokémon entered the room. The room seemed to get warmer as the Pokémon materialized in front of them. Its red and black mane fluffed with flames, as well as its large physique, drawn everyone's attention towards the Pokemon.. “Incineroar!”

Everyone else but Pikachu were surprised to see this fire Pokémon in front of them. As Incineroar smiled and greeted Pikachu, both trainers brought out their Pokedex’s and scanned the fire Pokémon.

“Incineroar. The Heel Pokémon. Fire and Dark type. It excels at violent, no-holds-barred battles. The temperature of the flames that issue from its navel exceeds 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit.”

“When did you catch an Incineroar?” Gou asked as he put his phone away.

“I caught him as a Nyabby (Litten) back when I was in Alola,” Satoshi said as he fist bumped the fire cat. “Brandon says that in the Crowned Tundra we may need some fire type Pokémon. I would have asked Charizard or Infernape to come, but Brandon strangely requested those that are dark type.”

“Dark type?” Gou asked. “Why specifically that?”

“Guys look!” Serena called the group whilst staring out the window. The first snowflakes had now gathered and it started to snow outside. The train itself was running fine as the weather got more and more intense.

“It’s getting cold in here,” Satoshi said as he grabbed Pikachu. Incineroar hugged his trainer, and the other two Pokémon did the same to their trainers respectively.

* * *

The train stopped at the station with ease. Once the safety breaks and mechanisms were in place, the three kids walked out of the train in their snow attire. They all wore bright orange coats and pants, and switched their standard shoes with reinforced boots. The weather, according to everyone, was intensive in comparison to standard cold areas of the world.

“Satoshi!” Brandon called, walking over towards them. He was also wearing the same, orange attire as them. “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too Brandon,” he shook his hand. “These are my friends. Gou, and Serena.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” they both replied.

“I brought the Jeep so we can go to the ruins,” he said, guiding them to his car. “We found quite the discovery!”

Heading over to the ruins was actually quite short. Within ten minutes, they were there and set up shop with the research team. The research team set up tents and dug holes into the mountainside to create warm environments for their computers. As soon as the three kids stepped in, warm air hit them causing instant relief.

“This feels so good,” Gou smiled as he looses the ends of his sleeves and jacket zipper.

“I just want to stay in here,” Serena whined as she took her hood off.

“We’ll take a break before we head in then,” Brandon said as he walked over to his team. “In the meantime, get warm!”

“You don’t have to repeat that twice,” Satoshi said as the three of them found some lawn chairs to sit down on. They all sat in a circle and slowly took off the heavy coats and scarves.

“Are you okay Pikachu?” Satoshi asked, apologizing that he had to stuff Pikachu in his jacket. The electric mouse Pokémon mewed as Satoshi gave him a good few scratches.

“My Rotom Phone might be frozen,” Gou said as he tried to pick up the phone.

“That’s what you get for trying to take pictures,” Serena laughed. “In the middle of the blizzard.”

“I’m just recording and trying to get some data,” Gou said as he breathed onto his phone screen before trying to tap. The recording played and it showed Gou simply recording the tundra and it’s violent winds. As Gou watched the video, Brandon came towards their group.

“How are you three?” Brandon asked as he took a squat next to Satoshi and Gou. “Holding up well?”

“It’s so cold,” Serena whined. “How are you used to it?”

“Frankly,” Brandon reached into his pocket. “I’m not. But these things help.” He pulled out a pocket warmer and threw it towards Serena. She caught it and instant relief came to her face as she cupped it in her hands.

“I think I found something,” Gou said as he zoomed into the video. In the background, in the skies was a faint blur that quickly flew across the screen.

“Could that be a Pokémon?” Brandon asked, observing the video. “Share that video to one of the researchers here. Now let’s get packing!”

* * *

The four walked out of the tents and got into the Jeep. The ruins were right there, but the research team wanted to wait before entering. Now, they decided to go observe the caves where they found the Regi hieroglyphics at.

As soon as the four set into the cave, the four could feel a burst of energy coming towards them.

“What is that?” Gou said as he held along the cave side.

“There seems to be a large abundance of energy coming from this path,” Brandon said as he shined his flashlight down a dark cave. “Should we check it out?”

“Let’s do it,” Satoshi said as he walked first.

“Satoshi wait-“ Serena grabbed the boy’s jacket and pulled him back. “We should let Brandon with the flashlight go first.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “I’ll lead the path down and-“

There was a loud cry coming from down the cave. It was so loud, the whole cave seemed to shake and shutter back and forth. The cave entrance immediately collapsed behind the group, trapping the four people inside.

“Satoshi-“ Gou slipped from the immediate darkness of the cave and fell into a different cave path. The three didn’t process it in time as more of the cave collapsed. The three moved forward, deeper into the cave to escape the cascading rocks behind them.

* * *

“Come on out Cinderrace,” Gou said, tossing his Pokeball forward. The Striker Pokemon popped out of the Pokeball. Seeing that the cave they were in was in complete darkness, the Pokemon dribbled a stone into the air to create a mini fire ball. The Pokemon continued to keep up the ball as the fire illuminated the cave.

Gou got separated from the group as the cave collapsed. Luckily, he still had all of his gear, and his Rotom Phone was still with him.

“Can you lead the way Cinderrace?” Gou asked, directing the Pokemon to the path the cave directed. “I got separated so we mind as well continue down.”

The Pokemon nodded and continued to walk down the path, but something was bugging his mind.

“Hey… Cinderrace?”

The Pokemon stopped in his tracks and looked at his trainer.

“I…” How does one word this? “Am I a bad person?”

Cinderrace fully turned around and gave his full attention towards Gou.

“I was just thinking about yesterday,” Gou admitted. “For once, I was irritated enough to battle someone. I didn’t read the situation enough and I battled Serena. I made you battle Delphox, and you hated the whole battle.”

Cinderrace set the fireball to the ground, allowing it to slowly dissipate its flames by itself. The Pokemon stepped towards its trainers and simply stared at him in awe.

“I’m sorry Cinderrace,” Gou said, gripping his hand tighter as he held back tears. “I’m a bad trainer and I made you do things against your will. I’m a bad trainer who cares about his own worth and not others. I’m-“

The Striker Pokemon jumped behind Gou and gave him a powerful kick at his behind. Gou screamed as he was kicked forward and slammed on the rocky ground.

“That hurt!” Gou screamed as he sat up, rubbing the area of damage. “Why did you do that?”

Cinderrace screamed and barked at his trainer. He was angry and shouted many cries at his trainer.

And Gou didn’t understand it. Why was his Pokemon yelling at him? Why did his Pokemon assault him? Was he a bad trainer?

Suddenly, the Pokemon dashed forward and gripped Gou in a tight hug. Tears were now flowing out of Cinderrace’s eyes as he continued to scream and shout.

And it clicked in Gou. Cinderrace wasn’t angry at Gou for being a bad trainer. He was angry at Gou for thinking he himself was one. Gou took into realization that Cinderrace was denying his claims and that Gou was a better person than he thought.

Cinderrace stopped ranting after a minute. His hug was still tight and his tears were still coming out and landing on his orange coat.

“Do you really think I’m a better person than I really am?” Gou asked, breaking the silence between them.

Cinderrace lifted his head and nodded. “Cinda….”

The two stayed together like that for who knows how long. It was rare for Gou to give hugs, especially to Pokemon. And so they stayed together like that.

And they stayed in the freezing cave by themselves.

Until they heard a massive screech.

A loud one in fact.

The two looked at each other in realization. “It’s an exit!”

* * *

“I’m worried about Gou,” Satoshi said as he turned around towards the fallen rubble. “He got separated from us.”

“We should continue forward,” Brandon suggested. “These caves all connect to each other in the end, so we’ll see Gou later.”

“Pika…” Pikachu sadly sighed as he touched the fallen rubble. Satoshi gripped his wrist and took a deep breath.

“Let’s go,” Satoshi told the group. “Gou would want us to.”

“This way!” Brandon lead the group deeper into the cave, shining his flashlight to lead the group to safety.

“I feel a breeze,” Serena realized. “There’s another way out!”

“Good catch!” Brandon said as he continued leading the group.

* * *

Before they realized it, they entered a large cavern that was just as big as a stadium. There were several openings on the ceiling so wind, snow, and light flooded the whole area.

“What is this place?” Satoshi asked the group.

“Maybe some sort of battle arena?” Brandon said as he flashed his light around. “But where did that cry come from?”

“Umm... guys...” Serena pointed up and altered the group of the Pokémon watching over them.

Galarian Articuno flapped its massive blue wings and sent the whole group back towards the wall. The Pokemon was now Dynamaxed, and it was very angry.

Serena was able to flash her Pokédex at the giant Pokémon. The Rotom Dex wasn’t speaking too loud, so she read off the information.

“This is Galatian Articuno!” She told the group. “It roams the Crowned Tundra and uses its Psychic abilities against their foes and- wait the Dex says that this should only be as big as a small plane. Why is Articuno 50 feet tall?”

“Articuno is Dynamaxed,” Satoshi told her. “We have to battle them!”

“That thing looks dangerous!” Brandon told the other two. “We have to get out of here!”

“Articuno's blocking the exit!” Serena pointed behind it. “How do we-“

“Cinderrace use Pyro Ball!”

Cinderrace kicked the rock he found and it immediately ignited with flames. The Striker Pokemon quickly punted the ball towards the massive bird, landing in front of the group of three.

“Everyone,” Gou said as he ran up to the group.

“You’re all right!” Satoshi was about to give him a hug, but Gou cut him off.

“No time,” Gou said, seeing that Pyro Ball did little damage to the gigantic bird. “We have to battle it.”

“Let’s do it!” Brandon got out his poke ball. “Go! Regice!”

“Go Incineror!” Satoshi called out.

“Go Delphox!”

The giant Galatian Articuno first used blizzard on the group. Delphox and Regiice tanked the hit as Incineroar and Cinderrace both avoided the incoming frost attack.

“Use Flamethrower!” Satoshi and Gou ordered their Pokémon. “Use Pyro Ball!”

Cinderrace and Incineroar launched their flame throwers and Pyro ball, only to be guarded off by Psychic.

“Use Mystical Fire!” Serena commanded her Delphox.

“Regice use Aurora Veil!” Brandon commanded.

The Aurora Veil was casted as Mystical Fire blasted forward. The Galarian Articuno gave a terrifying screech as it flapped its wings to blow away Mystical Fire. The legendary bird continued to flap its wings as another blizzard was hit forward.

“Galarian Articuno reset everyone’s stats and nullified all Pokémon abilities,” Brandon said as he covered his ears from the screech. Blizzard struck against the Aurora veil and broke it after it held up some of the attack. “Satoshi!”

“Right!” Satoshi swung his left arm. “Incineroar use Darkest Lariat and break through blizzard!”

Incineroar started to spin sideways as blizzard went down towards the three other fire type Pokémon. It spun so rapidly that blizzard was blown off and deflected, shielding both Cinderrace and Delphox.

“Use Pyro ball again!” Gou commanded.

“Use Shadow ball!” Serena commanded as well.

The two other fire types generated their attacks and sent them together. The pyro ball combined with the shadow ball and was able to hit the unsuspecting Articuno. The bird shrieked as the ball attacks made damage.

"Articuno's gonna attack!” Brandon warned everyone. “Regice use Aurora Veil again!”

Galarian Articuno fanned its own wings out and summoned a giant storm cloud above in the arena cave. It quickly started dropping hail balls the size of cars on the area; some were broken due to aurora veil but most of them went through.

“Use Darkest Lariat!” Satoshi told his Pokémon.

“Use Blaze Kick!” Gou cried to his Pokémon.

“Delphic use Psychic!” Serena told her Pokémon.

The three Pokémon looked up and saw the incoming hail balls as the immediate target. Incinerators jumped up and spun rapidly to crush incoming hail balls towards Satoshi and his group. Cinderrace followed behind Incineroar as the Striker Pokemon used blaze kick to break ice balls, but to step and to jump off of them to climb higher and higher. Delphox was able to use psychic and simply moved off incoming hail balls away from them.

“Regice use Iron Head!” Brandon said as Regice moved forward. The legendary Pokémon jumped and dodged the incoming ice balls as Regice charged towards the other legendary.

Articuno was about to blow Regice away with it’s wings when Incineroar aimed a flamethrower at it. The bird was more distracted to dodge the flame thrower that it forgotten about the Regice. Articuno took massive damage as Regice slammed its head into the opponent. However, Incineroar was now open for a hail ball to crush it.

“Cinderrace!” Gou yelled, alerting the Pokémon to blaze kick an incoming hail ball towards Incineroar.

“Delphox!” Serena commanded, helping Gou and Satoshi save his Pokémon. “Psychic!”

Articuno let out a loud screech as it let out a singular orb into the sky. The orb expanded into psychic rings, which were them blasted towards the area of the three fire type Pokémon. Both Cinderrace and Delphox were forced down due to gravity, which left Incineroar alone to defend the three Pokémon from hail.

“We can’t beat it with this Max Hailstorm constantly making hail on us,” Brandon told the group. “We need a Dynamax pokemon!”

“Gou,” Satoshi threw his band at Gou. “Gigantamax your Cinderrace!”

“What?” Gou cried. “I never Gigantamax'ed Cinderrace before!”

“Trust me!” Setoshi said. “Only your Pokémon can do it!”

“But I don’t even know how-“ Cinderrace screamed loudly as red energy started to gather around the Pokémon.

“Return Cinderrace into his Pokeball!” Satoshi cried as he commanded Incineroar to use Darkest Lariat.

Gou did as he was told and returned Cinderrace. The ball suddenly grew four times bigger in his arms as red energy surged the pokeball to grow in size.

“Now throw it!” Satoshi said. Gou tossed the ball into the air and out came Cinderrace again. But this time, Cinderrace looked way different. As it grew bigger and bigger into Galarian Articuno’s size, the Pokemon's ears became bigger and bigger. They became longer and longer, until it looked similar to a pair of wings. And underneath the Pokémon developed a giant fireball with its own set of eyes and ears. Cinderrace stood with full confidence on top of the ball, keeping his complete and balance against the hailstorm.

“Now tell Cinderrace to use G-Max Fireball!” Satoshi said as Regice was able to slam one more iron head before it got sent backwards into tables.

“But Regice!” Gou warned, realizing that this fireball could possibly cause an explosion big enough to destroy the cave. “It’ll get affected by the attack.”

“Delphox use psychic to pull Regice out!” Serena commanded. “Brandon!”

Brandon got her intention clearly. “Regice use ice beam!”

As Regice was picked up from the ground, the legendary blasted a powerful ice beam at Galarian Articuno. The bird closed its wings as a shield spawned in front of it, protect itself from the incoming attacks.

“Incineroar,” Satoshi commanded. “Use flamethrower!”

“Delphox you use Mystical Fire!” Serena joined in. The two fire Pokémon sent their attacks towards the Articuno. The bird shrieked as it can feel the heat coming in from the two attacks.

“Cinderrace use G-Max Fireball!” Gou screamed at the top of his lungs. The rabbit Pokémon howled as it did a singular backflip behind the ball. Cinderrace bent its leg up high before kicking the giant ball towards Articuno.

“Let’s go let’s go let’s goo!!!” The three kids screamed at once.

The fireball had a mind of its own as it struck the Galarian ice bird. It made contact with the birds wings and immediately the bird screeched in pain. The fireball continued to push forward as the bird started to skid backwards into the end of the arena. Eventually, the bird’s feet touched the end of the battle ground and it caused the bird to tumble backwards into the stadium seats. The fireball flew upwards in the air as Articuno fanned its wings to allow it to stand up properly again.

“We’re not done yet,” Gou told the group. “Cinderrace!”

The Pokémon nodded as it ran forward. Because Cinderrace was a smaller gigantamax in comparison to other Pokémon, it made it to the other side of the stadium in time to kick the fireball up into the air. He dribbled the fireball twice before doing another bank shot straight towards Galatian Articuno.

The bird let out a loud screech, this time loud enough to start shaking the cavern’s interior.

“This cave is going to collapse,” Brandon warned the group. “Let’s go!”

“But the cave behind us is closed,” Serena told the group. “The exit is-“

“Over there!” Satoshi pointed towards an open cave entrance beside the fallen Galarian Articuno.

“Cinderrace,” Gou asked from a distance. “Can you open that exit a bit more?”

The Rabbit Pokémon nodded before kicking his fireball towards the exit.

* * *

The researchers were panicking when they found out that the cave Brandon was in suddenly collapsed on itself. As soon as the researchers that were outside of the cake saw the cave crumble, they immediately phoned the research team. Now, a group of twelve people were freezing their butts off as they stood in front of the cave entrance. They had two Zen Mode Darmanatans continuously use flamethrower and flare blitz on the entrance to melt the snow, but it showed no signs of letting up.

And then out of nowhere, somewhere behind the mountain, a giant fireball shot from the mountain side and it shot straight into a mountain side on the opposite side of the tundra. Several trees were on fire as the 15 feet in diameter fireball reduced into the side of a pebble.

* * *

Gou was so happy that he was able to see skies of gray. After being stuck in the cave, he was sure that he was gonna die. But after defeating Galarian Articuno, he thought he could do anything.

But it saddened his heart that Articuno escaped the poke ball and fled. This was the first time he has ever been truly heart-

On second thought, this was the second time he had ever been truly heart-broken. Everyone was giving Gou a pat on the back before they were bombarded by the research time trying to rescue them.

An hour later, they were inside the summit of the twin ruins. The fifteen of them (them three plus the research team) all watched as Brandon summoned the three Regi’s and Regigigas- as well as a Galarian Weezing.

“Why does he have a Weezing?” Satoshi asked as Serena looked it up on the Pokédex.

The four Regi Pokémon combined their powers and started the ritual. They all completed a pattern with their dots- each one sending different dot signals towards each other and the floor.

The temple shuttered as the wall began to show the two silhouettes of the two Regis. Once the smoke and debris cleared out, the two bodies of Regidark and Regielectric (name tbd in the end of Fall 2020) presented themselves beside the alter.

Regigigas stepped forward and ignited some code into them. Within seconds, both Regis on the alter shuttered to life. And within seconds, a double battle started between the two new Regis and Regigigas and Weezing.

“Regigigas,” Brandon commanded. “Use superpower!”

Immediately, Regigigas shot forward and slammed it’s massive arm into Regidark. The Pokémon flew straight into the wall, already fainted befotr getting to use it’s first move.

“Regigigas has Slow Start,” Gou explained. “For the first five turns, it cannot move. But Galarian Weezing was able to cancel it out!”

“I see,” Satoshi and Serena nodded as Brandon finished off Regielectric (name coming Winter 2021)

Brandon threw two poke balls and smiled as he was able to catch both Regis.

* * *

_*pop*_

The research team cheered as they popped open a bottle of “juice.”

Gou, Satoshi, and Serena watched from a distance as the researchers quickly handed glasses of the purple stuff to everyone. They declined when they received an offer, and continued to watch and laugh as the research team started cheering.

After catching the Regis, the research team and Brandon thought it was the time to celebrate. They all checked in the only hotel in the Crowned Tundra and used the empty dining hall as a celebration room for their success (with permission).

“I couldn’t have done it without Satoshi and his friends, Gou and Serena,” Brandon said as he raised a glass. “Without them, we wouldn’t have ever gotten out of that cave and we wouldn’t have ever beaten that Dynamax Galarian Articuno!”

“Wait wait wait,” a researcher stopped the Frontier Brain. “You four encountered the legendary bird Articuno and battled it?”

There was a massive wave of questions and complaints after that. As the table with Brandon got flooded with researchers, Gou quickly snuck out before it got too hectic and walked out the dining hall.

“Come on out, Cinderrace,” Gou said as he tossed the Pokeball up.

The ball exploded and summoned the giant rabbit striker. The Pokemon looked at Gou and the area he was in, inspecting the hotel hallways and decor.

“We never Dynamaxed together,” Gou brought up, directing the Pokemon to follow him down the hallway to a more quiet location. “How do you feel?”

Gou became more considerate of Cinderrace’s feelings after the Pokemon started rebelling as Raboot. After an encounter against a stronger Pokemon, Raboot wanted to train more and more until he could beat them. Gou, blinded by his dreams and oblivious due to his personality, didn’t see that until Raboot started punting fireballs off a cliff side. In fact, it was that same day Satoshi told him that Raboot wanted to train and to become stronger. And that the reason why Raboot wouldn’t listen to him is because he was blinded by his own motivation to catch all the Pokemon in the world. Raboot wanted to become stronger not only to defeat that strong Pokemon, but because he wanted to keep up with Gou and to help him catch them all.

Cinderrace, remembering that day as if it was yesterday, nodded. He ran forward and embraced Gou with a hug for the second time today. It was that night that Raboot was able to use blaze kick. And he learned a lot of important things about Gou that he never knew.

“I really liked it too,” Gou smiled, stopping to see snow slowly fall outside the window. The blizzard that stormed earlier was now settling down, and the winds weren’t that cold anymore.

Satoshi came out of the dining hall after excusing himself to use the restroom. He and Serena got roped in by Brandon. Apparently, Brandon never found out that Satoshi became the Alolan Champion. Not to mention, Serena was a very big competitor in Pokemon Contests and several researchers had daughters that were inspired by Serena to pursue them. Satoshi sighed as he was able to excuse himself with Pikachu to use the restroom. As he walked out, he could hear Gou down the hall.

“I really like Dynamaxing,” Gou said as he stared at his empty wrist. He returned the Dynamax band to Satoshi after the battle. “Or… Gigantamaxing. I didn’t know you had a Gigantamax form Cinderrace.”

The Striker Pokemon shrugged his shoulders, unaware of the new form as well.

“Do you think we should look for our own band?” Gou asked. “So we can do it again?”

Cinderrace argued in the favor, but became sad after realizing he can only Gigantamax in Galar.

“That’s true,” Gou sighed. “You can only do that in Galar.”

Satoshi watched in happiness as Gou and Cinderrace continued to talk to each other. It was rare for Gou to converse for so long with a Pokemon. Usually, Gou would try to learn more about that Pokemon before actually engaging conversation with them. Actually, he would try to catch it before learning about it. It was just his personality of wanting to catch everything that made Gou so impatient for conversations.

But then again, was it his impatience? Satoshi wondered as he recalled his thoughts. Despite this being true, Gou really seemed to not care about forming emotional bonds with Pokemon. And it really shows as Gou simply throws poke balls nilly-willy without weakening the Pokemon. And it saddened Satoshi that he wasn’t willing to train his Pokemon to become stronger at first because he thought it was fine enough as it is. Even when Hibunny (Scorbunny) evolved into Raboot, Gou was unable to understand Rabbot’s character, and thus the strain in their relationship.

As the weeks and months passed by, Gou was able to grow less socially awkward and more in touch with his Pokemon. And more recently, Gou finally figured out what Raboot was trying to do and was finally able to create an emotional bond with it. Satoshi was so proud to see Gou help learn Raboot learn blaze kick, he even bought him donuts that night. It was painful to see Gou mistreat his Pokemon like this, but as he stuck with Satoshi, he learned how to understand feelings from not just Pokemon, but from other people too.

And more recently, Gou realized the error of his ways and realized that he should really know the actual Pokemon that he’s catching. Satoshi was amazed at how fast Gou was able to create a friendship with the Pokemon he just caught. He really was.

Satoshi was really worried at first when he told him about Serena visiting. He knew that his ego and his confidence would butt in with Serena. And he was really preparing for the worst- except it actually happened. The first day with Team Rocket really threw off Gou and Serena and it caused them to hate each other to the point of battling each other. Satoshi wasn’t just mad- he was furious! Friends should not battle with each other in fits of rage. He told them off and went off on his own to the Pokemon Center.

And he deeply regretted it. He hates being angry. He hates being stern and serious. But he had to- his friends weren’t being the best friends in the world. Satoshi laid down on his bed that night with Pikachu and thought about the two others that he dragged to the forest. He stared at the empty bed on the other side of the room, saddened by the thought that Gou wouldn’t be joining him that night. But then again, he was also sad that they weren’t able to camp out that night. He missed seeing Serena and camping out as a group effort.

And it was yesterday night that he started seeing Gou and Serena in a new light. Gou really did become a better person now that he thought about it. And Serena did become such a beautiful young lady as well. She also became a better Pokemon coordinator, a better trainer, and somehow, she became even more recognizable in her own ways.

But Gou also became a personality too. Since Gou changed and became less socially awkward, Satoshi really fell in love with the character that Gou developed. Gou became more open about himself, he became less ignorant of not only the Pokemon he caught but with what he thinks too. Gou also became good at battling, and created a unique bond with Cinderrace as they conducted research with Sakuragi.

“So what do you think?” Gou asked Cinderrace, both trainer and Pokemon unaware of Satoshi standing down the hallway. “Should we try to get our own Dynamax band?”

Cinderrace cheered and started hopping in delight.

“Hey… Cinderrace?” Gou called, asking the Pokemon to sit down by patting the available seat next to him.

The Pokemon obliged.

“Why did you and Delphox make the egg?” Gou asked.

Cinderrace lifted its legs and hugged them on the seat. His ears went down and he hid his face inside.

“You’re... I know your sorry Cinderrace,” Gou ribbed his Pokémon’s back. “I just... I guess I’m just a bit jealous.”

The Pokémon and Satoshi looked at him in shocked. Even Pikachu was in shock too.

“It’s because I really like Satoshi, you know,” Gou blushed, and leaned his head on Cinderrace’s fluffy ears. “I never really get to show affection or anything, and every time I see Satoshi smile, or laugh, or anything, I just... feel warm inside.

“But I can never act upon it,” Gou admitted. “I was raised to never act on it. I didn’t learn how to talk to people growing up, and it hit me hard because I was so awkward around other kids. I... I didn’t have friends other than Koharu, so I don’t know how to really show affection other than saying thank you. So seeing you and Delphox actually hitting it off and seeing an egg pop up... I was jealous. Jealous that I can’t even admit my feelings to him without running away.”

Cinderrace wrapped its arms around the boy as Gou started to tear up. Satoshi wanted to step forward, but he felt a hand stopping him. He turned around, and saw Serena smiling at him. She whispered, “I’ll take it. Don’t worry about it.”

Serena pointed at the wall and made Satoshi stand behind it with Pikachu before walking over to Gou.

“How are you doing Gou?” Serena asked as she found Gou hugging Cinderrace around the corner. “Gou?”

“I’m just sad,” Gou admitted to the blonde as he wiped the tears coming out with a tissue. “Nothing to worry about.”

Serena brought out her Delphox and sat on the floor in front of Gou. Delphox took the seat next to Cinderrace, smiling as Cinderrace started providing the fox Pokémon some attention.

“Listen Gou,” Serena said nervously, “I... I’m jealous of our Pokémon too.”

The two Pokémon looked over at Serena as if she was crazy. “I’m not jealous that you two could make an egg. I’m jealous that I don’t have someone traveling with me that makes me laugh... cry... angry... happy... everything. 

“I missed traveling with Satoshi because he was the one that taught me how to really live life. He taught me that life isn’t straight forward, and that sometimes you have to get down and dirty. And Satoshi was the one who got me into Pokemon Performances and Contests. I just... i was so uncertain leaving home for my journey you know?

“I left home with Fennekin (Fokko) and I didn’t want to camp out at all. I planned out my routes to make sure I would always end up at a Pokémon center- and it didn’t work. I was so miserable but I bared through it because I really wanted to see Satoshi again.”

Gou remembered how Serena told him they met in Oak’s program when they were younger, much similar to a program he went to when he was younger.

“Satoshi made traveling fun,” Serena’s smile slowly turned into a frown. “Until I went to Hoenn. I was a bit miserable in the beginning because I was so... alone with my Pokémon. No offense but... I missed what I built with Satoshi, and I ran away from him because I wanted to pursue my dreams. I knew if I just stayed with Satoshi it wouldn’t help me with my dreams.

“And I’m glad I did,” Serena smiled at her Pokémon. “I met tons of new friends, new Pokémon... and I grew stronger as a person.”

“So let me get this straight,” Gou said as he realized, “I’m too socially awkward with Satoshi so I would run away. But you don’t want Satoshi to distract you so you ran away?”

“Don’t phrase it’s like that,” Serena blushed. “It-It’s not- shut up!”

Both Cinderrace and Delphox were both snickering at their trainers. Both commenting how they were more red than they were (and they’re fire type Pokémon) and how the tables have turned.

“So what do we do now?” Gou asked the girl in front of him.

“We have to tell him,” Serena sighed. “Our Pokémon are never gonna let us live this down.”

Satoshi turned around and headed back inside the venue. With Pikachu on his shoulder, he calmly grabbed the nearest glass of water and excused himself to the bathroom. He then splashed the ice cold water on himself and grabbed a paper towel to dry it up.

He was so stupid! All this time Serena and Gou we’re both hitting on him and he didn’t know! He thought the airport kiss was a goodbye kiss. He thought the hugs and appreciation thank you’s from Gou were just that. But he didn’t expect to hear that both Gou and Serena liked him very very much!

“What do I do Pikachu?” He asked the electric mouse Pokémon. “I... I don’t know what to do.”

“Pi...ka?” Pikachu turned his head a bit.

“I... I don’t want to make any of them mad,” Satoshi sighed. “I just want to be their friend! I like them both but- I- AHHHHH!”

“Pika pika?” Pikachu asked his trainer in a lighter tone. “Pika? Pikachu?”

“Well.., I guess you’re right....” Satoshi signed. “I should tell them. What do you know about love?”

“Pika?” He asked. Unsure, he responded. “Pikachu pii-ka? Pika pikachu. Pi-ka-chu?”

“Pokémon battles?” Satochi considered. “I love to battle, but do I feel the same way about them?”

Battles excited his mind and it makes him pumped up. But being a boyfriend excited his mind as well... kinda? Not in the same way. But did it make him pumped up?... no?

“I... I don’t know Pikachu,” Satoshi sadly admitted. “I just... I don’t know if I’m ready.”

“Pikachu?” The Pokémon replied. “Pika pika? Pikachu-pi?”

“I think you’re right,” Satoshi smiles as he gave his Pokémon a nice pat on his head. “Thanks Pikachu.”

The electric mouse Pokémon smiled happily as he was being petted at just the right spot.

* * *

“I can’t thank you enough for helping me with this excavation,” Brandon said to the three kids at the train station.

Now that the excavation is over, the research team was going to reveal their findings to the world and Brandon was about to return to the Battle Frontier.

“Let’s battle some time,” Satoshi smiler, shaking Brandon’s hand fiercely.

“Always,” Brandon said, returning that smile as well as the handshake.

Both Gou and Serena smiled at each other, and waved good bye to the Frontier Brain. The three kids boarded the train and once again got their own train cart booth.

“So I guess this means we return to Kanto,” Satoshi sighed.

“Not quite,” Gou said as he brought up the email Sakuragi sent out. “Professor Sakuragi sent an email saying that there were electrical problems at the Lab so he’s closing it.”

“What about the egg?” Serena asked.

“Koharu has it still,” Gou answered.

“Phew,” Serena sighed in relief. “I was worried that they would-“

Satoshi’s phone started to ring out loud. The call was from his mother.

“Hey mom,” Satoshi answered.

“Satoshi,” his mother called. “I got a call from Citron (Clemont) saying that something’s wrong with Satoshi-Gekkouga (Ash Greninja)? Is that your Gekkouga?”

“There’s something wrong?” Satoshi asked. Both Gou and Serena looked at Satoshi with concern.

“He said to get to Kalos as quick as you can,” she said. “Don’t worry about the lab. Sakuragi told me the lab will be closed so go ahead and check on Gekkouga.”

“Thanks mom,” Satoshi said and hung up after saying good bye. He faced towards the two concerned trainers in front of him.

“There’s something wrong with Gekkouga,” he said to Serena. “Citron called and asked if I can come.”

“What’s wrong?” Serena asked with concern.

“Gekkouga?” Gou asked. “You have a Gekkouga?”

Satoshi nodded and chuckled to himself from his comment. “Citron didn’t say what was wrong. He just told me to go.”

“Then let’s go to Kalos then!” Gou said, a little excited at the turn of events. “I’m ready to catch some Kalosian Pokémon!”

“What about the egg?” Serena sighed. “Can Koharu watch the egg for a few more days?”

“I can call and ask,” Gou sighed. “But let’s go to Kalos!”

“Yeah!” Satoshi said, extremely pumped with his Pikachu. “Let’s go to Kalos!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I would like to rant about the anipoke/pokemon anime for a bit. I really like the OP (1 2 3 by After the Rain aka Mafumafu and Soraru), and I'm interested to see what the US/English interpretation/version would be. But the US is delayed (presumably because of Corona) and now I'm angry. Curses.
> 
> Also, I love the new/recent developments and I hope this Riolu that comes out is one that has Justified or has Inner Focus. It'll be cool if they mentioned that they updated inner focus so it's not affected by Intimidate. Also, I hope Sobble doesn't evolve fully because I'm a Grookey Gang and Scorebunny Stan. I appreciate the inspiration and origin of Intellion but seriously? And the Gigantamax... really? I love Cinderrace's Gigantamax (love them floppy ears) and I love Rillaboom's form as well. Intellion... has a 150 foot long tail? That spirals? 
> 
> Okay okay now about this fic. I'm planning next and final chapter to have Serena's part and to have the whole confrontation and the end of it. And honestly I'm a chaotic evil so expect next chapter to be longer, more dark, and more dramatic. Hehehe.
> 
> Also, I hope you caught on to the Regielectric joke thing. Regidark is such a good name, but what do you name the other Regi? Regilight? That's Fall2020 for you. 
> 
> See y'all next time! HMU on my tumblr Negira1239 and let's talk. Or add me to discord if you think I'm interesting. I don't bite. (My tumblr is empty but yes I will respond to messages)
> 
> Negira1239

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah... not sure if this should be a series sort of thing or just a one-shot. If this becomes popular, then I'll write more chapters. 
> 
> Honestly I don't know how I ended up making Cinderrace and Delphox have an egg together. And I think it was appropriate that I switched the Japanese names with English, because I think it would have taken away a lot of suspense. Also, I low key don't like that Cinderrace is called Aceburn and Delphox is Mahoxy. Using both names in a battle sequence seems hard.
> 
> Welp. That's all for me. Leave a comment!
> 
> Negira1239


End file.
